OpenStreetMap has updated their satellite imagery covering parts of Arusha and Serengeti. The imagery is delivered by Bing (Microsoft) and allows for tracing of roads and buildings in the mentioned areas. Microsoft has updated much of their imagery covering Tanzania the last year. The additions covered in this article represent important foundations for further developing the OpenStreetMap maps.

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CRC works tirelessly to help researchers and students to achieve their goals for research and studies. To promote their work I have dedicated a map over Tanzanian protected areas to them. I am hoping this will contribute to giving CRC their well deserved focus in the year to come. Download the map for free and enjoy.

This posting has been slightly updated since it was first published January the 5th this year. Since then both the content management system and server has changed. This led to the links to the maps being broken for some time. It is therefore posted again to allow new users to download the map.

This posting is about OpenStreetMap and how Microsoft thorugh Bing Maps contributes to establishing a good open data basemap all over the world. But it is also a modest request for more of the good stuff. The Tanzania coverage from Bing Maps is poor. I am hoping it can become better.

It’s been almost 20 years since I worked as a localizer for Microsoft Worldwide Product Group in Dublin, Ireland translating software and documentation from English to Norwegian. Way back then I took part in translating Windows for Workgroups (Windows 3.11) and Word. Bringing software to the people is hard work. Microsoft and it’s owners have prospered throughout these years making profits and contributing to technological breakthroughs. Supporting OpenStreetMap is one of many ways Microsoft is contributing back to society.Continue reading »

The Google team is thrilled to announce our first g|Tanzania, happening February 2-3 in Dar es Salaam. We’re looking forward to engaging with this community of developers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs who are as passionate about technology as we are!

They’ll be holding a MapUp after the main event:

A Google MapUp is an event in which a group of people get together to map their world… often a specific area such as a town or city. Avid cartographers (like you!) use Google Map Maker to add and edit roads, streams, schools, and more. Following a review for accuracy, new additions and edits are incorporated in Google Maps for millions of people around the world to see and use!

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For anyone interested in trying out QGIS, I’ve put together a folder with a complete QGIS project and a selection of raster and vector data for you to explore.

The archive includes:

Some of the usual border and protected area data we’ve been sharing on this site for years (some of which seriously need updating) – lakes, regions, protected areas;

December 2011 OpenStreetMap road data for the whole country, with a rule-based rendering system that renders various road levels as you zoom in; it matches the OSM default web rendering as much as possible.

GTOPO low-resolution DEM for the country (as a JPEG) with elevation colours customised in the layer.

Download QGIS if you haven’t already (www.qgis.org), open the tz_elevations.qgs file, and play!

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The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global spatial dataset on marine and terrestrial protected areas available. The 2010 version of the data were published earlier this year.
Since 1981 UNEP-WCMC has ever since 1981 been compiling this information and making it available to the global community. This has been done through their Protected Areas Programme. The WDPA is a joint project of UNEP and IUCN, produced by UNEP-WCMC and the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas working with governments and collaborating NGOs.

They describe their databases this way:

“The World Database on Protected Areas is a foundation dataset for conservation decision making. It contains crucial information from national governments, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, international biodiversity convention secretariats and many others. It is used for ecological gap analysis, environmental impact analysis and is increasingly used for private sector decision-making.”

For their 2010 publication they specifically note the following:

We are aware that some of the protected areas for Tanzania in this data set are not always 100% accurate. It is however the only data set providing updated continental level information on a regular basis. As such it is a good starting point for research. For management we would advice the user to contact the ministry (MNRT) for the most updated information.

The undersigned and colleagues are planing to publish a PDF map for free distribution based on this map quite soon. Stay tuned – and in the meantime visit WDPA:

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About

The TZGISUG supports users and enthusiasts of GIS in Tanzania. Our website and email list are intended to be an informal question-and-answer and online resource for beginners and advanced users alike. Karibuni!